rsh Posted October 16, 2007 Share #21 Posted October 16, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) There is no doubt that te 180 2.8 APO and the 180 Summicron sre superior lenses in every regard, but if budget is an issue, the 180 3.4 is still a very fine performer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 16, 2007 Posted October 16, 2007 Hi rsh, Take a look here Which 180mm to buy?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Guest Motivfindender Posted October 16, 2007 Share #22 Posted October 16, 2007 There is no doubt that te 180 2.8 APO and the 180 Summicron sre superior lenses in every regard, but if budget is an issue, the 180 3.4 is still a very fine performer. Still today, the 3,4/180 is shurely a very high-performing glass. Sort of a "once in a century" glass I´d say... not only in regard of price/quality relation. Dirk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsh Posted October 16, 2007 Share #23 Posted October 16, 2007 I agree and would not have kept mine all of these years were it not the case. It was old Doc McGinnis in Nashville while I was at Vanderbilt who introduced me to the 180 Apo Telyt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Johnston Posted October 16, 2007 Share #24 Posted October 16, 2007 I'm attaching a couple of shots from the Elmarit 180 w 2x doubler. I haven't had experience with the 180/3.4 but you all sure make it sound like the one to have. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/35764-which-180mm-to-buy/?do=findComment&comment=378492'>More sharing options...
rsh Posted October 17, 2007 Share #25 Posted October 17, 2007 Tom: You have a fine lens. There is nothing in the world wrong with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
usefeet Posted October 17, 2007 Share #26 Posted October 17, 2007 I use the 180/f3.4 with my Canon 5D. This lens is lightweight and therefore easy to carry in your backpack on walks and treks, ..excellent sharp lens! (and cost effective). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Johnston Posted October 17, 2007 Share #27 Posted October 17, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Yes Richard, I enjoy it very much. It is the only 180 I have experience with, and it works for me. I recently picked up the macro adapter for use with my Elmarit 60 and found to my delight it also is designed to fit the 180. That is indeed very interesting. I'm attaching another moonrise picture from last month, shot on Kodak NC Portra, 400- it was a very long exposure since it was dark out, so the reciprocity/color shift is pretty interesting. Elmarit 180 on my R7. I made mention of my old scanner, which works just enough to let me post a few web images. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/35764-which-180mm-to-buy/?do=findComment&comment=378561'>More sharing options...
zapp Posted October 17, 2007 Share #28 Posted October 17, 2007 Quality wise the Apo Elmarit is best. Pricevise the Apo Telyt is the best value for the money and still a very good lens. It does not have the smooth focusing of the Apo Elmarit, nor the close up performance and the Apo Elamrit will perform slightly better if you push it to the limits. I use the Elmarit second version and for me it is a nice lens. If you need the 180 often go for the Apo Telyt if you can afford the new Apo Elmarit enjoy. All other lenses like the 280 that was mentioned or the Summicron 180 are in a different weigth class. It does not make sense to go back further in time looking at even older 180 Leica lenses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop van Heijgen Posted October 17, 2007 Share #29 Posted October 17, 2007 Tom: You have a fine lens. There is nothing in the world wrong with it. Theo Kisselbach Leica designer of the Leicaflex SL (2) and Leica CL says about the Elmarit-R 2.8/180 in his book 'The Leicaflex book: "The optical performance is excellent" - "This lens has an outstanding resolving power and flatness of field'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapp Posted October 18, 2007 Share #30 Posted October 18, 2007 Theo Kisselbach Leica designer of the Leicaflex SL (2) and Leica CL says about the Elmarit-R 2.8/180 in his book 'The Leicaflex book: "The optical performance is excellent" - "This lens has an outstanding resolving power and flatness of field'. Come on, the book is from 1977 and was reprinted a couple times. In 1936 the Olympia Sonnar was excellent... All Leica lenses were excellent at their time and are still good and very good lenses, but the latest designs will provide better results with the latest advances in film/digital domain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikau Posted October 18, 2007 Share #31 Posted October 18, 2007 I bought a 180 3.4 a year or so after it came out and it paid for itself in no time. I made so much money with that lens that it was one of my best-ever buys. In those days I was using an SL and SL2 with a variety of R lenses, but the 180 was so good that Kodachromes taken with it just stood out on the light table, and time and time again photo editors went for them like bees to honey! I replaced it with a zoom 10 years ago and today use the 180 f2 with similar good results. It is just fantastic, even wide open and coupled to the 2x apo extender. I always use it with a monopod or a tripod, if the situation allows that luxury; it is - as others have noted - a big and heavy beast, but quite quick to focus. As an aside, back in the 70s I lived not far from Kodak's Kodachrome lab in North Vancouver and could get same-day service if I had the film in by 8am; those - as they say - were the days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop van Heijgen Posted October 18, 2007 Share #32 Posted October 18, 2007 Come on, the book is from 1977 and was reprinted a couple times. In 1936 the Olympia Sonnar was excellent... All Leica lenses were excellent at their time and are still good and very good lenses, but the latest designs will provide better results with the latest advances in film/digital domain. The last Leica and the most expensive is always the best......?? The second type Elmarit-R 2,8/ 180 has the same quality level like the Apo-Telyt 3,4/180! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapp Posted October 18, 2007 Share #33 Posted October 18, 2007 The last Leica and the most expensive is always the best......?? The second type Elmarit-R 2,8/ 180 has the same quality level like the Apo-Telyt 3,4/180! Yup. What sounds like a stupid commercial song - better then ever - just makes sense. The best reason to introduce a new lens, is a quality that surpasses the previous design. Other features are also important, but play a minor role for Leica users. Checking out the reviews and resources on the 180 lenses will tell the same story as well as for most if not all other Leica lenses. A new lens is always more expensive than a used one. I am not sure if the Apo Telyt at its time was effectively less expensive than the current Apo Elmarit. The more expensive Summicron is not the better choice as you compare apples with pears 2.8 with 2.0. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop van Heijgen Posted October 18, 2007 Share #34 Posted October 18, 2007 Yup. What sounds like a stupid commercial song - better then ever - just makes sense. The best reason to introduce a new lens, is a quality that surpasses the previous design. Other features are also important, but play a minor role for Leica users. Checking out the reviews and resources on the 180 lenses will tell the same story as well as for most if not all other Leica lenses.A new lens is always more expensive than a used one. I am not sure if the Apo Telyt at its time was effectively less expensive than the current Apo Elmarit. The more expensive Summicron is not the better choice as you compare apples with pears 2.8 with 2.0. 'The best reason to introduce a new lens, is a quality that surpasses the previous design.' This is a commercial song! Indeed: '....play a minor role for Leica users' because most 'improvements' for modern lenses are in practice marginal! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilihead Posted October 18, 2007 Share #35 Posted October 18, 2007 [quote name=rick_dykstra; I've not read today's posts' date=' but have just been looking at some freshly developed transparencies taken with a 180mm R lens. I thought they were OK through my Leica 5x loupe but tonight looked again through my 35/1.4 Asph (highly recommended as a loupe). "OMFG!!!! This cannot be possible. Bullsh*t. Where was this detail yesterday?" etc, etc. Interspersed with periods of stunned silence and head shaking, for 10 minutes or so. Which 180? APO-Summicron-R f2/180mm. Undertakers talk about people coming to them with smiles on their faces. Now I know why. This is the Leica lens to have before you die. [/quote] Rick - now this is how a lens review should read!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dritz Posted October 18, 2007 Share #36 Posted October 18, 2007 Um, how about the 180/2.3 Angineux with an R mount? It has a floating rear element and excellent quality at near focus distances. It might take a year to find one, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrox Posted October 19, 2007 Share #37 Posted October 19, 2007 By the way: Does anybody know how the older Elmarit-r 180 (2nd version) compares to the Canon 70-200/2.8 L in terms of sharpness? Regards Nitrox Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Motivfindender Posted October 19, 2007 Share #38 Posted October 19, 2007 I bought a 180 3.4 a year or so after it came out and it paid for itself in no time. I made so much money with that lens that it was one of my best-ever buys. In those days I was using an SL and SL2 with a variety of R lenses, but the 180 was so good that Kodachromes taken with it just stood out on the light table, and time and time again photo editors went for them like bees to honey! . I can understand - everytime I looked at the slides I made ( but I am not a pro) I had a smile in my face, as for sharpness and a special sort of nearly "three-dimensional" plasticity of the things I shot with it. The photos have a certain I wish the quality of myself as a photographer would reach this level of the 3,4/180 ... Dirk (but I have not yet lost my hope... ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Motivfindender Posted October 19, 2007 Share #39 Posted October 19, 2007 The photos that have been taken with it have "something" special in itselfes indeed. I wish the quality of myself as a photographer would reach this level of the 3,4/180 ... Dirk (but I have not yet lost my hope... ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyp Posted October 19, 2007 Share #40 Posted October 19, 2007 Richard H. McGinnis was such a great store, I still miss it; bought my first SL bodies and lenses there back in '81 [still have the first SL] He must have had everything Leitz made at one time or another. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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